


One Way Or Another

by sexypancake



Series: Maybe We're Fireproof [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Famous Liam, M/M, Marriage, Non-Famous Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sexypancake/pseuds/sexypancake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam Payne, twenty-nine years old and one of the wealthiest and most successful recording artists in the UK, goes on holiday in Australia and comes back with a lovely (read: cocky) nineteen year old husband. </p><p>Paul is quite certain this is going to be the most obnoxious assignment he has ever had in his entire <i>life</i>.</p><p> </p><p>19/20 verse</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Way Or Another

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired, of course, by the LILO 19/20 series from tumblr, where Louis is a nineteen year old UNI student, and Liam is his 28/29/30 year old BIG BOSS MAN boyfriend. All credits go to the lovely people who contribute to this addictive fandom idea.
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Literally five minutes after meeting his latest assignment, Paul Higgins knew that this was going to be the most exhausting job of his entire career. The throbbing headache forming at the back of his skull from rolling his eyes so much was proof enough of that. His boss, Liam Payne, had requested that Paul join him at his London home for an early morning breakfast meeting, before introducing the head of security to his task. Turns out that after working for someone for over a decade, the clearest sign of their absolute trust in you came in the form of being asked to become the permanent bodyguard of their new spouse.

As in, Liam Payne’s new husband. 

More than a little bewildered by the sudden reassignment (he’d been one of Liam’s four main bodyguards ever since the lad was younger, touring around the world with him and getting him out of all sorts of messes), Paul realized with a start that he was most likely going to be the very first person outside of Australia to meet Louis Tomlinson.

Well, he went by Louis Payne now. 

The young man who entered the casual dining room was everything Paul never would have imagined for his boss. Young and slinky and a little bit cocky, the stranger had an air about him that screamed dangerous. Paul could see it in the kid’s eyes, two blazing sapphire beacons that looked right through him and judged. He could tell by the way the kid’s lips slipped into a cool, neutral smile, both calculating and unimpressed all at once. Honestly, if the pay wasn’t as good as it was, and if he hadn’t already been a part of Liam’s senior staff since the man himself was a teenager, Paul would have dropped this in a hot instant. 

But as it stood, Mr. and Mr. Payne were in a very tricky situation at the moment, and Paul was unquestionably the best man for the job. He just would have to make sure he didn’t let his guard down, or there was a good chance this punk would walk right over him. 

“Well.” Paul said to the room at large, standing up and introducing himself. He extended a hand for Louis to shake, frowning when the kid’s shoulders hunched unexpectedly. He seemed hesitant to reach out and meet Paul’s greeting.

“Lou.” Liam warned softly, but Louis either didn’t hear him, or he was choosing to ignore Liam. Neither option boded well for what Paul was already beginning to suspect was a runaway relationship ready to crash and burn at any second. Eventually, though, he did shake Paul’s hand.

“Sorry.” Louis said softly, staring at their clasped hands and surprising Paul with how high his voice was. Louis withdrew his arm after a few seconds and gave Paul a larger, but still oddly empty smile. “Sorry.” He said again, running a hand through his fringe. “I’m, um, still getting used to this.” 

Paul took a step back and looked at the scene in front of him. Really looked.

Louis may have sauntered into the room like he was hot shit (because truthfully he was, now that he was married to one of the wealthiest recording artists in the country), but when he stood directly in front of Paul, little cracks in his armor seemed to appear. 

Because the kid was only nineteen, for Christ’s sake. He was short, still carrying some baby fat around his middle and in his cheeks. He was literally the textbook definition of a teenager, thin glasses on his nose, hair in his eyes and a few spots on his chin, his jeans rolled up several inches so that his ankles were on display in his sock-less converse. 

Truly, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about him that would have drawn Paul’s eyes in a crowd, but somehow he had managed to capture Liam Payne’s unwavering interest. Something had made one of the wealthiest men in London stop and think to himself, yes, this is the one I want, this is the man I’m going to marry and pledge myself to. There was something there that Paul wasn’t yet seeing, some it-factor that had caused Liam to completely disregard his career, the ramifications of his actions and the opinions of his family, his friends, his fans. 

Paul wanted to know what Louis Payne had done to make Liam put a elegantly simple, yet obscenely expensive gold band on his left ring finger after only three months of having known him. 

And wasn’t that just the real heart of the matter? Wasn’t that the real reason why Paul had been brought in and literally assigned responsibility for the life and welfare of his boss’s new lover? Their relationship was something of a runaway train, despite what Liam may have said otherwise. Paul had only learned about the dubious nuptials a week ago when the story first broke, blurry pictures of the two of them standing arm and arm in an Australian airport appearing in all of the national rags, both high and low brow. 

Obviously, Paul had thought the whole story was a load of crock, pictures be damned. Everyone knew how to use photoshop these days, and he wouldn’t put it past some of the less reputable magazines in circulation to fabricate the story on a slow news day. Coinciding it with Liam’s return home from a holiday down under was just dumb luck.

Furthermore, Paul had known Liam for years, literally before the lad could even legally drink, much less look at another person (male or female) with intent. He knew that Liam was many things, hard working, determined, and talented being some of his more notable traits. But the type of man who went away for the summer and came back married? Certainly not anything Paul would have described Liam as in this lifetime. 

And yet, here they were. 

Paul sat back down at the breakfast table and allowed himself a hearty gulp of tea, consoling himself with Liam’s expensive blends to calm his chaotic thoughts. As he sipped, he casually watched out of the corner of his eye as Liam, still sitting, reached out for Louis with one arm, pulling him against his side and looking up at the younger man adoringly. Louis brushed one hand through Liam’s short hair, scratching his scalp lightly, which caused the older man’s eyes to shudder close. Liam’s arm was sweeping up and down Louis’s back, calming strokes that seemed to hold no aim except for comfort. 

And suddenly, Paul could sort of see it.

This wasn’t some scandalous or sexually charged scene, nor were they putting on airs. Neither Liam nor Louis were even looking Paul’s way, so entirely focused on each other as they were. Liam eventually pulled Louis down to sit on the chair beside his and was attempting to feed him little bits of fruit. He was mostly failing, much to Paul’s begrudging fascination, since Louis appeared to be much more interested in the sausage and potatoes already on Liam’s plate. 

(While Liam continued to try and get Louis to agree to a semi-balanced breakfast, it was quite apparent that the struggle was an uphill one, and futile as best. Eventually, Liam forfeited his plate to his husband, to which Louis rewarded him by feeding him little pieces of bacon and toast with his fingers.)

It was almost as though Paul wasn’t even in the room, which is why he deduced that this, perhaps, was how Liam and Louis decided they would be able to survive the media shit-storm that was bound to follow. They were already noticeably comfortable with each other, easy and effortless, not unlike two people who had been married for twenty years, much less just over two months. Perhaps they had decided to just take the plunge, since there was little the media could do beyond scream and shout and paint ugly pictures of them. If Liam and Louis thought they were strong enough at the end of the day to bear it all, then so be it.

And hell, maybe it made sense. It certainly wasn’t impossible for two people to meet and fall in love and decide they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together in such a short period of time, but given the age differences, and most especially the differences in financial brackets, Paul had very good reasons for his entirely justifiable doubts.

And yet, again, here they were.

Suddenly, something small and dense smacked off his forehead, causing Paul’s head to snap up in alarm. 

“What the…?” He trailed off, eyes widening in disbelief as Louis unashamedly picked up another grape and stuck it between his thumb and pointer finger. Without even giving Paul a chance to sputter in indignation, Louis flicked the grape like a little bullet straight at him, missing this time, but only by an inch or two off the side of his head.

“Oi! Stop that you little…” Paul rose to his feet without thinking, reacting the way he always did to nuisances and threats upon his person, before the very well honed switch in his brain that allowed him to stay sane while running after millionaire popstars/idiots flipped on.  
 He froze, realizing instantly that he had prepared himself to start yelling at someone who was for all sakes and purposes his new boss. His mouth clicked shut.

Thankfully, Liam seemed to understand where Paul’s mind was going, and husband or not, he appeared to agree with how the situation should be handled. Liam casually reached out and gave Louis a little smack on the back of his head, smiling when the younger man squawked. Seconds later, Louis burst out laughing, tossing his whole body about in his seat like this was the funniest thing to ever happen to him.

“Christ, your face.” The teen huffed in between little gasping chuckles, pointing at Paul. He rubbed at one of his eyes beneath his glasses, smiling wider and more real than Paul had seen all morning. 

Louis slouched in his chair and propped his elbows on the table. “Mate, if you’re gonna be following me around you’ll soon realize that I’m a bit crazy.” He captured one of Liam’s hands, linking their fingers and grinning brightly. “It’s what made this one here fall in love with me.” He gave the back of Liam’s hand a cheeky little kiss, thoroughly unembarrassed by his proclamations in a way that Paul was admittedly a bit impressed by. 

Liam had checked out of the conversation and was reading the newspaper by this point, doing a rather amazing job of ignoring Louis’s antics, but responded to his husband’s statement by drawing their intertwined hands up to his face and kissing the back of Louis’s knuckles. It looked like an absentminded gesture, but it made Louis’s smile go gooey regardless. 

Paul slumped down into his seat and picked up his mug. The tea in it had gone cool and unpleasant, but he knocked it back anyway, watching as Louis spent the next five minutes eating all of the sausages on the table (in between talking non-stop and putting his hands all over Liam, of course). 

Despite the early hour, Paul could already feel a slight migraine forming in the back of his skull. Apparently the whole shy, intimidated act Louis had put on when he first entered the room was really just a just a front for the loud, talkative idiot sitting in front of him. He was expressive and colorful and unapologetically opinionated. It was enough to make Paul reconsider the assignment, once again. 

Liam shifted in his seat and snagged Louis by the back of his neck, pulling him in for a quick, soft kiss. For all sakes and purposes it was quite chaste, but it was still the first real act of intimacy between the two of them he had witnessed. Christ.

Liam Payne had really gotten married. The dumb kid who Paul had been watching over ever since he was a teenager and couldn’t drink, ever since he went through five girlfriends in a year (before realizing that men were maybe, sort of, possibly an okay option too), ever since he broke his arm and shaved his head and started getting deep, emotional tattoos.

Paul had been with this idiot kid ever since the beginning, and was honestly starting to feel a little choked up that they had finally reached this point. Granted, he never thought that someone like Louis was Liam’s type, but who was he to really understand the ways of eccentric millionaires (and yes, he knew Liam well enough by this point to declare him as such). 

Paul stared down at the dregs in his tea mug, pointedly not watching as Louis reached out and tweaked Liam’s nipple, laughing uproariously when one of Liam’s flailing arms nearly knocked over a teapot. It was still incredibly early in the morning, and the world outside Liam’s London house was only getting started on their day. Inside, cosy and happy and not just a little giddy, the newlyweds were doing their damnedest to make him sick with their overly affectionate love.

Paul realized, just then, with a dawning sense of dread as he saved the teapot and refilled his mug, that his life was about to get very, very difficult.

**Author's Note:**

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> More to come soon. Hopefully expect to see the following POV: Niall, Harry, Zayn, Karen Payne, Jay Tomlinson, Simon Cowell. (emphasis on hopefully! @_@)
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